The deployment of a parachute according to prior art methods involves several steps, including a triggering action initiated by an operator or a user which causes the parachute canopy to be longitudinally extracted from the compartment in which it is stored, and a passive inflation process characterized by an influx of ambient air into the canopy which causes the latter to expand until achieving the desired canopy diameter. The canopy expansion is generally resisted by structural tension of the canopy fabric and by inertia, taking on the order of at least 5 seconds until fully expanded. Such a delay corresponds to a significant drop of tens of meters.
During an foreseen skyscraper related catastrophic event, such as an earthquake or a terroristic activity, people entrapped within the skyscraper generally do not have time enough to escape imminent danger by descending a stairwell to a plaza surrounding the building.
The most expedient way of escaping danger during such events would be by jumping from an upper story floor while deploying a parachute to slower the rate of descent. It would be desirable to provide apparatus by which a parachute could be rapidly deployed.
Some prior art apparatus is known for rapidly deploying a parachute, such as EP 336910, U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,568, 5,516,903, and CN 101767651. However, the time needed for fully deploying such prior art apparatus until the canopy is sufficiently inflated and expanded is excessive, precluding the use thereof for parachuting from a relatively low story of a building. Also, the prior art apparatus is either heavy, complicated to deploy or expensive, and is therefore not suitable for large scale use during a catastrophic event.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for deploying a parachute at a significantly more rapid rate than what is achievable by prior art methods.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide apparatus for rapidly and reliably deploying a parachute that is light, of simple construction, and inexpensive.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.